Alva changes to commercial trash service beginning Dec. 2

In case you haven't seen the announcement by the City of Alva, trash service will be switched to Waste Connections beginning Monday, Dec. 2. The company is already making deliveries of poly carts to Alva residents, but trash should go into the Alva containers through the end of November. The announcement was made on the City of Alva app and on Facebook. By the way, you can download the free City of Alva app through your usual app store or go to alvaok.org to find the link for the download.

There will be some changes with the switch to commercial service. There will be no alley pickup of residential trash. Instead, containers must be placed curbside or street-side by 6 a.m. on the day of trash pickup. Trash will be picked up once a week with locations varying with days of the week. When the new poly carts are delivered, look for an information sheet wrapped around a cart handle that will tell you where to place your container and what day your area will be serviced.

Residents who have legitimate reasons why they are not physically able to take trash poly carts to the curb should call City Hall at 580-327-1340 and talk to Heather. Arrangements will be made to have your trash picked up by hand.

If you have City of Alva poly carts, the city will be picking them up after the commercial service starts.

When Waste Connections begins their service Dec. 2, the City of Alva office will still serve as the go-between. If you have problems, concerns or questions, contact the city office. They will then relay as needed to Waste Connections. You can report issues on this and other city services through the City of Alva app as well.

Remembering my younger brother

Last week I wrote about veterans and included a photo of my older brother in uniform. Since I also mentioned my younger brother Tom, my daughter sent the column to his daughter Rhonda. She shared a photo I had not seen of Tom in his uniform. My daughter Marisa suggested I write about some of my memories of Tom so here goes.

Gene was seven years older than me while Tom was 22 months younger. Since Tom and I were close to the same age, we spent a lot of time together while Gene was in school and with his older friends. However, one of the earliest stories repeated to me in family lore occurred before Tom's arrival. I wasn't yet walking when Gene went a little too far teasing me. I chomped down on his big toe.

Growing up with brothers meant I was constantly on guard against sneak attacks. They loved to creep up behind me and start tickling. But I learned to react quickly, propelling a swift kick to the shin and running away.

Despite these sneaky attacks, Tom and I spent many happy hours building roads for his toy cars in the sandbox or playing house with my dolls (he was the dad and always left for work). As a toddler, Tom followed me everywhere, and I endeavored to keep him out of trouble. By the time I was six-years-old, Tom was outgrowing me and wearing the same size of clothing. In fact, for a staff Halloween party, Mom dressed me in Tom's boy clothes and him in my dress as our costumes.

In our younger years, we lived on a farm with an adjacent wooded area. During the summer, we frequently went on family walks through the woods. One day, I decided it was a great day to visit the woods and Tom followed along. Unfortunately, we didn't mention this walk to Mom.

Tom and I had a great time. I remembered landmarks from previous walks as I led the way. When we emerged from the woods we discovered people calling for us and had to face the wrath of Mom. We agreed never to walk in the woods again without an adult.

After our parents purchased the local weekly newspaper and job printing business, Tom and I enjoyed hanging out at the office. Occasionally we were drafted to help assemble pages for some printing jobs, but mostly we entertained each other. We had plenty of paper for drawing. Once during an argument, I used a pencil as a weapon. My brother carried that little dot of lead on his cheek into adulthood. And yes, I got into trouble for that one too.

When dad built a darkroom at the newspaper office, he made it two stories because our ceilings were so high. The upper story was used to hold newspaper archives, but it had a nice window and a shelf. The intent may have been to use it for extra office space. Instead Tom and I claimed it for a space ship. We drew our control panel on the wooden counter and flew through the galaxy while watching for formidable foes.

It was inevitable that as we grew older, we grew apart. Entering my teen years, I objected to having a younger brother expecting to be involved in everything I did. Many years later, we reconnected when Tom came to work at the Newsgram and later the Alva Review-Courier as the head press operator. Although he's been gone many years, I and several of the newspaper staff still remember his dry wit and corny jokes.

I hope you have fond memories of your siblings.